A Princess of Mars

ttempted to spring to my feet but was horrified to discover that my muscles refused to respond to my will. I was now thoroughly awake, but as unable to move a muscle as though turne

assume that I had been overcome by some poisonous gas, but why I should

The noise of the approaching horses had ceased, and I judged the Indians were creeping stealthily upon me along the little ledge which led to my living tomb. I remembe

ed face was thrust cautiously around the shoulder of the cliff, and savage eyes looked into mine. That he could see

ir necks over the shoulders of their fellows whom they could not pass upon the narrow ledge. Each face was the picture of awe and fear, but for what reason I did not know, nor did I l

urned and fled in terror, panic-stricken. So frantic were their efforts to escape from the unseen thing behind me that one of the braves was

Fear is a relative term and so I can only measure my feelings at that time by what I had experienced in previous positions of danger and by those that I have passed through since

che warriors turn in wild stampede, as a flock of sheep would madly flee from a pack of wolves, seems to me the last word in

se ceased, and I was left to the contemplation of my position without interruption. I could but vaguely conjectu

rail, evidently in search of food and water, and I was left alone with my mysterious unknown companion and the dead b

leaves. The shock to my already overstrained nervous system was terrible in the extreme, and with a superhuman effort I strove to break my awful bonds. It was an effort of the mind, of the will, of the nerves; not muscular, for I could not move even so m

g toward the open ledge and the hands resting limply upon the ground. I looked first at my lifeless clay there upon the floor of the ca

over forever into that other life! But I could not well believe this, as I could feel my heart pounding against my ribs from the exertion of my efforts to release myself from the anaesthesis which ha

ition of the weird moan from the depths of the cave. Naked and unarme

saddle, and as my horse had wandered off I was left without means of defense. My only alternative seemed to lie in flight and my decision was crystallized by a

oursing through me. Pausing upon the brink of the ledge I upbraided myself for what now seemed to me wholly unwarranted apprehension. I reasoned with myself that I had lain helpless for many hours within the cave, yet nothing had molested me, and my better judgme

ir of the mountains. As I did so I saw stretching far below me the beautiful vista of rocky gorge, and le

d shadows upon hog back and arroyo, and the grotesque details of the stiff, yet beautiful cacti form a picture at once enchanting and inspiring; as tho

y riveted by a large red star close to the distant horizon. As I gazed upon it I felt a spell of overpowering fascination-it was Mars, the god of war, and for me, the fighting man, it had always held

ward the god of my vocation and felt myself drawn with the suddenness of thought through